I currently drive a 2010 CRV, and during past 4 days, I test drove the 2017CX5 twice, and 2017CRV once, I ended up buying one of them today.
1. during first CX5 drive, the sales person throw me the key, didn't even take my driver's license, and let me drive myself, and as expected, i was driving harsh (while being safe to other cars), sport mode, floored the gas pedal as much as possible, hard breaking, fast cornering. between the harsh driving and new car smell that made me dizzy, i was disappointed after test drive.
2. I went to test drive a 2017 CRV, man, is that thing big now from outside, comparing to my 2010CRV, it doesn't even feel like they are in the same category. The salesman was with me this time, so I was well behaved.
The car felt more smooth, familiar driving, with more power, i like the leather seat material a lot more, it's glossy gray color, it doesn't feel lack of power anymore, once you get going that is.
From stop and go, in sport mode, there's lag (turbo?)!!! 1 freaking second lag (didn't measure), that's one primary reason I want to replace my current CRV, that 1 freaking second could have had me killed in emergency maneuver; I don't care if it's CVT/6 speed, and don't mind the sound of engine, but that 1 freaking second I would not tolerate.
The new CRV also felt bigger inside, maybe it's a matter of getting used to, but I felt that the car was less maneuverable due to increased size.
so after test driving CRV, I went back to do more research on CRV, trying to convince myself to like it more. I looked at reviews, youtube videos, the more I look at, the more I dislike the look of it. It's still UGLY, maybe a little bit better than previous version, but it's still UGLY, I don't mind my 2010 CRV style much, but the new one is distractingly UGLY to me. And the more I look at CX 5 videos/pix, the more I like it, I guess you can say that CX5 design won my heart.
3. I lost half night of sleep last night, so today I brought my wife and my 5 year old for a CX5 test drive. I don't drive to work, so my wife is the primary driver during weekdays, got to get her approval.
The salesman gave us the key, and said 'take your time', so there we went.
Wife drove it for first 15 minutes, smooth, predictable, didn't find anything she didn't like, except for the new car smell. I drove it for 15 minutes, smooth, quick, quiet. My son in the back center enjoyed the rear AC, the only complaint was his usual car seat wasn't there (we used an inflatable booster).
Went back to dealer, red being my son's favorite color this month, would take at least 6 weeks for us to get, so we ended up with white, 2-3 weeks wait, still on the ship.
anyways, more impressions:
I like CX5 steering wheel a lot more, at low speed, very light, higher speed, heavier; it makes parking lot, and slow traffic one hand turning a lot easier, while feeling more stable on the highway. Didn't test drive enough to tell if it was more precise.
CRV sales guy kept telling there's live traffic, and map data are auto updated, all without connected to phone, I don't know how that's possible. With CX5, someone mentioned in another thread no live traffic, 3 year map update. I guess I'll continue to use my always up to date, always reliable, true voice activated Google Navigation. From what I've seen, android auto locks out your phone to do anything else except those few apps, sorry, I won't give up my phone for AA, yet.
CRV infotainment user interface is awful, I barely touched it, but it's distractingly unpleasant to look at (all over blue theme and rectangular buttons). I got to use the CX5 center console controls today, loved it, simple, intuitive, and affirmative. User interface style aside, using the knobs and touch screen is like using a computer keyboard v.s. using a mouse; when you use mouse, you got to find your mouse, find your pointer on screen, move pointer, and carefully clicking the button while hold your hand still; with keyboard, you press a key, guaranteed to execute. apple to orange comparison, but that's how I felt.
CX5 Highway Wind Noise is definitely not a problem, I was at ~80mph, not a single hiss of wind noise, road noise was on par with CRV, if not worse. I didn't drive CRV at 80, I didn't hear wind noise, but I could feel wind noise coming.
Arm rest, got to say, CRV's got it right, I have only right hand on wheel 90% of the time, and with right hand on the wheel, I like my right arm rested on the armrest. not gonna happen in CX5, too far. CRV has armrest sliding out providing support. love it. hopefully I'll get used to it.
CX5 interior is more padded, more soft areas, feels more premium. CRV has that wood trim I could not tolerate, even if I bought the car, I would find someone to cover it. I thought mostly people 50+ prefer having that style of wood trims, hard to believe they put that in all CRV trims. CX5 has wood trims too, but it's much modern looking, don't like it, don't dislike it either.
The HUD! if you haven't seen it, you need to see it in person. It's projected on the windshield, but it looks like a hologram floating in the air in front of your car. Love it, got to have it.
The rims, if you think CX5 GT rims are ugly (looks a bit better in person), the CRV rims are even worse, and interestingly, CRV has a rims upgrade option that looks a bit like CX5 GT rims.
CRV homelink garage opener is at the ceiling, CX5 has on on mirror, I like CRV implementation better, mirror might move if I touch it hard.
CRV has more trunk space, I'd rather rent a truck a few times over lifetime of CX5 than sacrificing driving experience over trunk space.
One thing I noticed with CX5 pedal full down from stop/slow to go is also lag, if I press gas pedal 50%, I felt that I got 50% right away. But if I press 100%, I could hear engine responding immediately, but then there's a small lag before car reaches 50%, no where near as bad as CRV. Maybe it's just my expectation, but this part didn't feel 'predictable' to me.